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Lebanon witnessed the bloodiest day in the nearly year-long conflict with Israel, as Israel launched air strikes on hundreds of Hezbollah targets, killing at least 274 people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Following the most intense cross-border exchange of fire since the start of the fighting, Israel demanded that the Lebanese evacuate areas where it said the group was storing its weapons.
Israel has shifted its focus to its northern border, where the group has been firing rockets in support of Hamas, which is at war with Israel in Gaza.
Today, the Israeli army targeted the party in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley in the east and the northern region near Syria in its largest strikes in terms of scope.
hard days
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would face “difficult days” as it intensified strikes on Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and called on Israelis to maintain unity as the campaign continued.
“I promised that we would change the security balance and the balance of power in the north, and that is exactly what we are doing,” he added in a message after assessing the situation at an army headquarters in Tel Aviv.
For his part, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said in a video clip published by his office earlier today: “We are intensifying our attacks in Lebanon, and the operations will continue until we achieve our goal of returning the residents of northern Israel to their homes safely. These are days in which Israelis must remain calm.”
These statements came after the Israeli army targeted Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley in the east of the country, and the northern region near Syria.
800 goals
The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that at least 274 people were killed, including 21 children and 31 women, while the number of injured reached 1,024.
The Israeli military said it hit about 800 Hezbollah targets, after earlier warning that imminent air strikes would target homes in Lebanon “where Hezbollah hides its weapons.”
Reuters could not independently verify Israel’s allegations that Hezbollah is storing weapons in homes and villages.
The Lebanese group said it fired dozens of rockets at an Israeli military site in response to the attacks.
Raids
The airstrikes have increased pressure on Hezbollah, which last week suffered a blow described by the group’s secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, as “large and unprecedented” in its history after thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by its members exploded.
Israel has been accused of being behind the attack but has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.
In another blow, an Israeli air strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday targeted several of Hezbollah’s top leaders in an attack that the Lebanese Health Ministry said killed 45 people.
Hezbollah said 16 members of the group were among the dead, including senior leader Ibrahim Aqil and commander Ahmed Wahbi.
The fighting has raised fears that the United States, a close ally of Israel, and Iran could become embroiled in a wider war in the Middle East.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani condemned the Israeli strikes.
He said: “The new Zionist adventure will have dire consequences.”
The Israeli ambulance service said one person was slightly injured by shrapnel from the latest barrage of rockets fired at northern Israel.
Imad Kreidieh, head of Lebanese telecoms company Ogero, told Reuters on Monday that the network had monitored more than 80,000 calls asking people to evacuate their areas, but not all of them had been answered.
The office of Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said in a statement that the minister opened schools in Beirut, the northern city of Tripoli and southern Lebanon as shelters amid the massive displacement of citizens.
Citizens, even in the capital Beirut, received evacuation calls on their phones.
Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary said the ministry had received a similar call to evacuate the building, but indicated it would not do so. “This is psychological warfare,” he told Reuters.
